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By Chinelo Obogo, Lagos
Rescue Nigeria Mission, an initiative spearheaded by a youth group aimed at mobilising support for the emergence of Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State as Nigeria’s next President, was launched in Kano on Saturday.
During a town hall meeting with women and youths in Kano, the coordinator of the movement, Abdul Maikwashewa, said the Kogi State Governor has contributed immensely to the development of youths in Nigeria by instituting people-oriented policies for their benefit.
Maikwashewa said members of the group came up with the idea of queueing behind Yahaya Bello as Presidential candidate because ‘looking around, no one beats his record currently in Nigeria.’
‘We had to go to him to plead with him to run because he is not part of the old order and he is a formidable youth through whom we can realise the yearning of youths to take over governance in Nigeria,’ he said.
The Chief of Staff to the Kogi State Governor, Abdulkareem Jamiu, who was at the inauguration of the members on Saturday, said Nigeria needed to breathe fresh air in the interest of the country and Nigerians at large.
He urged the youths not to allow any unqualified and old politician seeking elective posts to determine the destiny of the younger generation who represent 70 per cent of the population.
Abdulkareem thanked the organisers for the confidence in Governor Bello and reiterated that he possessed the capacity and agility to end security and economic difficulties confronting the country.
He said if Bello could decimate the enormous challenges and restore sanity to Kogi State, there shouldn’t be any reason for doubting the Governor’s dexterity to put Nigeria in order.
He said, ‘if Governor Bello can provide solution to numerous challenges confronting Kogi State, we have no doubt that he can answer the questions of Nigeria. First of all, what is the problem of Kogi State? Kogi is the only state that borders 10 states, including FCT, making the state a mini Nigeria.
‘Kogi used to be the nerve centre of security threat, that was before Governor Yahaya Bello took over the mantle of leadership. Okene my home local government used to house a bomb factory. Bombing of churches, mosques and public places was the order of the day as a result of Boko Haram and ISWA activities before this administration took over.
‘Kogi was the centre of communal clashes, a situation where one ethnic group dominated other minority groups. As a result, the state was simply a theatre of anarchy, conflict and unrest. That period, when you enter the state capital, Lokoja, it was like a graveyard because there was no electricity, no development and sources of livelihood.
‘When the Governor took over, we engaged the services of the security with support from local vigilante groups to restore peace in the state. We no longer have bombing factories, the issue of marginalization has gone forever. Communal clash is over and peace reigns supreme in Kogi. Thank God for the purposeful leadership of Governor Yahaya Bello,’ Jamiu noted.
